The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-03-09
A CUP OF TEA.
FACTS ABOUT A
UNIVERSAL BEVERAGE.
Where Tea Comes From What
1t Costs - How 1t Is
Grown How 1t
Is Made.

The people of the United States are
said to be coffee drinkers, whereas the
people of England are tea-drinkers; but
! for all this, we consume in this country
something like IS, 900, 900 pounds of tea
every year. Taking the old wife's rule,
that to make good cup of tea you must
put in "a pinch" for. every person at the
! table and a pinch for the pot, this would
allow scventy-fve cups of good tea each
year for every man, woman and child IN
the country.
The taste for tea has lasted in our race
! for about two centuries. Before then our
ancestors drank small beer and sack at
their breakfast. The first teas brought
to this country came from Great Britain,
and had originally been imported from
the Dutch East Indies. The Chinese teas
did not make their appearance till much
later, and the japanese teas are of yester-
day. In the old days tea was dear and
only used by the rich.
The gradual increase IN the consump-
tion of tea must be ascribed partly to the
increase of wealth among the people, and
partly to the growing conviction that, on
the whole, tea is a wholesome beverage.
1t contains, however, but two elements
J which possess alimentary value, and these
in small quantity, thus differing widely
in this respect from chocolate, which is
one of the most valuable articles of food
we have. The elements in question are
theme, which has the property of lessen
ing the waste tissue in the human body,
and thus taking the place of other food,
and tannin, whose value as an astringent
is known. 1t is hard to imagine any
one living on tea alone, but it is certain
that numbers of ladies, especially those in
delicate health, derive a large part of
their nutriment from tea. Perhaps the
milk and sugar with which we adulterate
tea may be the source of nourishment in
the cup. Doctors agree that drunk to
excess it produces nervousness; in expert
ments upon the lower creation it has
caused paralysis; and the same disease oc-
casionally attacks tea-packers. In France,
where tea is seldom seen on the breakfast
table, it is frequently drunk by students
who desire to keep awake. 1t is mixed,
not with milk, but with rum. According
to Dickens, monthly nurses and women
of that glass in England mix gin with
their tea, and drink the compound out of
the spout of the teapot. In China, coun-
try people add ginger and salt to their
tea, in order to counteract its tendency to
produce lassitude. The higher classes in
China always drink it pure. In Russia,
honey is often mixed with tea to swecten
it. In California, tea is chiefly drunk by
women, and it goes without saying that
sugar and milk are the only articles with
which it is mixed.
Few people nowadays need to be told
that the black and the green teas are
grown on the same shrub, and the leaf in
both is green when it is gathered. It is
by manipulation and by inducing a par
tial fermentation that the green leaf is
turned black. Both are the product of
the shrub known as the Thea; in South
ern China it is known to botanists as the
Thea bohea; in Chekiang it is known as
the Thea viridis. The different nomen-
clature merely reflects the change pro-
duced in the plant by transfer from n
temperate to a hot climate; its character
istics are identical in both cases. A GER
tain number, indeed nearly all the teas ex-
ported from China, are colored by artii-
cial processes; these are supposed to be
harmless, but it is possible that they may
not always be so.
Half the battle in tea Is knowing how
to make it. A careless housekeepcr
throws q handful of tea into pot and
pours lot of warm water on it; then she
is surprised that the guests at the tea
table make wry faces, and behind her
back called her tea "slops" It is with
tea as with coffee, the secret of ex-
tracing the essence and flavor is in in
sisting that the water shall be actually
boiling when it comes into contact with
the tea. This is very rarely done. Even
good tea-makers think their duty done
when they put a certain quantity of tea
in the pot, then pour over it cup full of
water which was boiling two or three
minutes before, then leave it five minutes
to draw. They certainly get something
of the taste and fragrance of the herb,
but nothing like what they might extract
if the tea were made in the kitchen by
good cook, who poured the water in by
driblets, stopping the supply whenever
cbulition ceased, and then resuming the
flow after letting the kettle remain
few seconds on the fire.
The Chinese, who know how to make
tea, arc particular about the water that is
used. Says Tung Po, the Chinese Soycr:
"Whenever tea is to be infused for use
take water from running stream and
boil it over a lively fire. 1t is an old GUS
tom to use running water boiled over
lively fire; that from springs in the hills
is said to be the best, and river water the
next, while well water is the worst. A
lively fire is clear, bright charcoal fire.
When making an infusion do not boil the
water too hastily. First, it should begin
to sparkle like crabs eyes, then some
what like tish's eyes, and lastly it boils
up like pearls innumerablc, springing
and waving about. This is the only true
way to boil the water" The Chinese
generally make their tea cup by cup."-
San Ffunciso Call.